Mid-Roll CTV Completion Rates Dominate at 98%: Oolaya Report

Mid-roll ads are the stars of the Ooyala Q3 2017 Global Video Index, released today. In this batch of fresh data, Ooyala shows that mid-roll ads enjoy strong completion rates, especially on broadcaster video. Connected TV (CTV) mid-rolls had a 98 percent completion rate in Q3, while PC mid-rolls had a completion rate of 97 percent. On each platform, broadcaster mid-rolls had stronger completion rates than did publisher mid-rolls. The highest rate for publisher mid-rolls was 88 percent on PCs.

In the report, Ooyala notes a viewer preference for mid-rolls ads over pre-rolls. It’s not uncommon for viewers to jump to a different video as soon as they see a pre-roll ad start to play, and that dissatisfaction is growing over time. Broadcaster pre-rolls enjoyed a higher completion rate than publisher pre-rolls, with the highest rates coming from broadcaster CTV at 91 percent and broadcaster PCs at 86 percent.

Ads enjoy strong completion rates on broadcaster video in general because the content is longer and more exclusive. Viewers are often committed to finishing a program before they start. For advertisers using pre-rolls, Oolaya says new shorter formats are the growing trend, especially on mobile devices. Mobile pre-rolls saw a spike in demand in Q3, making up 39.1 percent of all impressions. That compares to 29 percent in Q2.

“Trends are clear: shorter pre-rolls will result in more viewers remaining engaged with content, although even for shorter content the overall rate of disaffection is growing,” the report says. “For platforms with more premium content, pre-rolls can still be effective, but the biggest bang for a brand’s buck remains mid-roll ads.”

The report uses anonymized data from Oolaya’s 500-plus customers, serving an audience in the hundreds of millions. For more results, download the Ooyala Q3 2017 Global Video Index for free (registration required).